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Trimble Residence
Lacombe
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Trimble Residence (ca. 1901), is a two-storey, front-gabled home with exaggerated closed soffits with cornice returns, an asymmetrical entryway with a gabled pediment and long shed roof addition on the north (right) side of the home. The Georgian Revival-style home is detailed with multi-light hung windows with shutters, narrow lapped siding on the body and wide lapped siding with an arched louvre at the gable peak. The home is deeply set back on a large double lot that spans between 53 Street and C and E Trail in a historic residential enclave, northwest of downtown Lacombe, on the west side of 53 Street. The lot has several substantial coniferous trees in front of the home and lining the north side of the lot.
Heritage Value
The Trimble Residence (ca. 1901), built in circa 1901, is highly significant as an extant example of one of Lacombe’s early grand estates and for its association with the home’s first owner, pioneer Lacombe resident, H.M. Trimble. The land was originally owned and farmed by Carrie (Caroline) nee Mair and Andrew Glass circa 1887. Andrew passed away in 1893 and Carrie married Herbert Day in 1900, after subdividing her land into 33 lots for residential development in 1899. In 1901, Henry Moorehouse Trimble (1872-1949) purchased lots 1 to 3 from the Days. Trimble, a lawyer trained at Regina College, moved from Ontario to Calgary in 1891. In 1900, he relocated to Lacombe to open a law office, then only a village with a population of 100. He married Mary Jane Battrick (1875-1964) in 1901 in Calgary and had this house built likely the same year in the middle of Lots 2 to 3. The home was designed in the Edwardian Foursquare style, featuring two-storey massing, a pyramidal roofline with closed eaves, symmetrical windows openings and a wrap-around porch with gabled corner porch entry; a grassed tennis court was situated on the south side of the home. In 1909, Trimble subdivided the property and sold to Robert Scott (1878-1946), an agent, and his wife, Madge (Nee Talbot) (ca. 1887-1978). The Scotts lived in the home until 1926. Trimble was one of Lacombe’s significant early pioneers, who co-created many of the town’s core services including: establishing the Lacombe Board of Trade, opening the Lacombe Experimental Farm in 1904, developing the electric railway to Bentley, Mayor of Lacombe in 1908, and president of the newly formed Central Alberta Hockey Association (1903).
In 1911, Trimble built a new home directly north (5234 53 Street) on the same two lots and lived here until they moved to Edmonton in 1919. In 1926, Trimble moved back to Lacombe, re-purchased this home from the Scotts and lived here until 1939. During this time, Trimble transferred successfully into the grain buying business. He sold this home in 1934 to open H.M. Trimble and Sons in Calgary, later purchased by Trimac in 1961. Original elements of the house preserved from this era include its boxy massing, closed cornices, trim and siding, and some original window openings.
The residence is further valued for its later occupancy by many professionals and business leaders in Lacombe. In 1939, the home was owned by Harland (Hal) DeWitt Laird (1897-1959), a lawyer, and his wife, Maria, who lived there until 1945. Laird was proprietor of Laird Motors and owned two garages and service stations in town. The shed roof addition on the north side elevation, originally built as an attached garage is presumably from Laird’s era in the home. The residence was also home for Pennsylvania-born Dr. W.A. (William Addison) Henry (1894-1972) and his wife, Jean (nee Kent), who owned from 1947 to 1972. Dr. Henry was an early pioneer doctor in the neighbouring town of Bentley from 1924 to 1946. From 1941 to 1945 he enlisted in the medical corps in WWII and on his return, was awarded a post of Lieutenant Colonel at the Colonel Belcher in Calgary. He returned to Bentley for one year before building a new medical centre in Lacombe with Dr. Frank Stuart, where he worked until his retirement in 1964. The house was used as a multi-unit rental property until the Henry’s returned to Lacombe in circa 1954 to 1956.
The residence is also valued for its later exterior renovation, handsomely detailed in the Georgian Revival style. Georgian Revival was popular in Alberta from the 1920s to1940s and peaked in popularity in the late 1920s to1930s. Hallmarks of the style added during the renovation include its gabled roofline with wide lapped siding at the gable peaks, one-storey addition on the south side to extend the horizontality of the home, pedimented entryway, and multi-light triple assembly windows with shutters. The home was renovated circa 1926-mid 1940s, either during Trimble’s second residency or Laird’s ownership.
Source: City of Lacombe (File 65.201.01 2022)
Character-Defining Elements
Character-defining elements of the Trimble Residence include its:
-Location mid-block on historic 53 Street, a residential enclave of historic homes northwest of downtown Lacombe;
positioning deeply set back on the property lines on two lots;
-form, scale, and massing of its ca. 1901 design such as its: square plan; two storey height with full basement; closed soffits; window openings on front and façade, second storey;
-form, scale and massing of its later renovation such as its: gabled roofline; one-storey gabled addition on the south elevation;
wooden-frame construction including: lapped wooden siding on body of house; wide lapped siding at gable peaks; wooden trim elements: watertable, fascia boards, cornerboards;
-Georgian Revival-style details added in the later renovation including: gabled roofline; clipped eaves; closed cornice returns; multi-light hung windows with wooden decorative shutters and trim with decorative drip moulds; arched louvre at the gable peak; gabled pedimented porch enclosure with cornice returns, wide lapped siding at the gable peak and engaged fluted columns; and
-fenestration such as: single and double assembly 6 to 1 wooden-sash single-hung windows on front elevation; triple assembly wooden-sash windows with central 1 to 1 single-hung window with asymmetrical sashes and 2-light wooden exterior storm, bound by two narrow 1 to 1 single-hung windows with asymmetrical sashes and 3-light exterior wooden storms on front elevation; two paneled wooden front door with multi upper light and original bronze hardware.
Location
| Street Address: |
5228 - 53 Street |
| Community: |
Lacombe |
| Boundaries: |
Part of Lot 4, Plan 83HW |
| Contributing Resources: |
Buildings: 1
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ATS Legal Description:
PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
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Plan |
Block |
Lot |
Parcel |
83HW
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Pt. 4
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Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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52.467323 |
-113.736352 |
Digital Maps |
NAD27 |
UTM Reference:
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Northing |
Easting |
Zone |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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5816538 |
314128 |
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Digital Maps |
NAD27 |
Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Local Governments (AB) |
| Designation Status: |
Municipal Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
2022/06/13 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1901 to 1901 |
| Period of Significance: |
1887 to 1939 |
| Theme(s): |
Peopling the Land : Canada's Earliest Inhabitants
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| Historic Function(s): |
Residence : Single Dwelling
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| Current Function(s): |
Residence : Single Dwelling
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| Architect: |
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| Builder: |
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| Context: |
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Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4664-0480 |
| Designation File: |
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| Related Listing(s): |
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| Heritage Survey File: |
HS 10584
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| Website Link: |
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| Data Source: |
City of Lacombe
Planning and Development Department
5432 56 Avenue, Lacombe, AB T4L 1E9
(File 65/201.01 2022) |
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